Microwave Engineering Europe
July 12, 2010
IPWireless and Altair Semiconductor have announced a partnership to develop a suite of multi-band LTE modem products that will support key frequency bands ideally suited to global LTE deployments.
The companies will integrate Altair’s cutting-edge software-defined radio baseband processor into IPWireless’ LTE devices. The first consumer friendly LTE USB modem device will support multiple frequency bands including the 800 MHz digital dividend band, 1800 MHz and 2.5 GHz. Subsequent devices will also support the entire US 700 MHz and AWS frequency. Samples of the device will be available by September, 2010, with commercial availability before the end of the year.
IPWireless’ LTE device will incorporate Altair’s FourGee-3100 baseband and FourGee-6200 RFIC chipsets as well as IPWireless’ own technology solutions and software. The FourGee-3100 is a 3GPP LTE baseband processor that supports LTE category 3 (CAT-3) throughputs (100-Mbps/50-Mbps DL/UL respectively). The chip implements a 20 MHz MIMO receiver and is based on a proprietary, cutting edge O²P™ Software Defined Radio (SDR) processor which offers performance which significantly exceeds traditional communications DSP cores, yet consumes a fraction of the power.
The chipset supports FDD as well as TDD versions of the LTE standard and has undergone extensive interoperability testing (IOT) with major infrastructure vendors, allowing IPWireless to accelerate time to market for its LTE USB device product and ensure full compatibility with future LTE networks.
The FourGee-6200 is a high-performance, wideband FDD/TDD radio IC which covers any 3GPP LTE frequency band in the range between 700-2700 MHz. The combined chipset offers terminal manufacturers a true global solution.
In addition to Altair’s chipsets, IPWireless’ LTE devices will use a custom designed multi-band MIMO antenna that will improve both cell edge and peak rate performance. The RF transceiver chains have been highly optimized to provide superior receiver sensitivity. The devices will support Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, and will have the facility to support over-the-air (OTA) software updates without disruption to the user. A range of custom accessories including desktop stands, external antennas and laptop clips further complement the offering and improve the overall user experience.
IPWireless will also integrate Altair’s FourGee-3100/6200 baseband/RFIC chipset platform into its PCI Express Mini Card (PEM) for use in LTE networks. IPWireless’ PEMs have already been successfully embedded into a wide range of devices including laptops, public safety devices, and residential broadband routers for applications such as traffic light management, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), transit and other machine-to-machine applications.